I Get my Photo Gear at:

GEAR UP!

Conservation

Followers

Hit Count

Thursday, February 5, 2009

So it Begins

Today marked what will likely be my last scouting trip for eagles this year. The number of birds doubled since Saturday, and there were over 60 baldies gathering around open water this evening. The lighting was extremely flat and low due to heavy cloud cover and lingering inversion. The conditions could not have been worse for photography. Still, my main intent was to pattern the birds to some degree and understand where to be for the weekend.

I am excited for the coming week, which hopefully will bring some good light and enough weather to clear out the smog. There is a lot of open water out there, more than I have seen in many years. That is keeping the birds spread out, but tonight I would have had a few very nice chances were it not for the cloudy gloom. I saw this kestrel catch a mouse and moved in for a shot - the background here is the sky so you can see how flat and monotone everything was.

I did see a couple of nice rooster pheasants out pecking around. It was a nice little after-work scout and now that I know the birds are in town I can't wait to get out after 'em.